Anime Underground The Best Anime Series of All Time

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List Rules Japanese animated TV series only

10 Best Anime Series of All Time | Rankworthy

You love anime but what tops this list of the best anime series ever made? Top anime series include shows like Death Note, Attack on Titan, and so much more. Plus, with so much new anime debuting each year, the list of best anime will only grow. The blanket term "anime" in the US can refer to any animation originating in Japan, and specifically differentiates a few aspects of Japanese animation from more Western styles. For example, the top comedy animes can be be much more explicit in their humor. This includes the Japanese propensity to feature adult themes and stories in animation, as opposed to Western "cartoons" aimed primarily at children, as well as the exaggerated, fantasy-oriented and colorful style of Japanese animated visuals.

Anime can refer either to animated films or TV series, furthering the confusion. (Anime is often incorrectly used to refer to Japanese comic books as well. These are actually known as "manga," though many anime series are based on or inspired by popular manga.) Check out the best anime of 2014 for newer recommendations!

Anime TV series first found popularity outside of Japan in the 1980s and have continued to find larger and larger audiences in the West. A number of anime shows originating in Japan - such as Cowboy Bebop or Dragon Ball Z - have found enthusiastic audiences for dubbed versions in English speaking countries. (Pokemon, a series inspired by Nintendo's blockbuster series of video games, has been an ongoing hit franchise in both Japan and the US.) The anime style has grown so popular in the US, it has stared to significantly influence the style and aesthetics of American animation. Shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Afro Samurai and Samurai Jack have borrowed heavily from anime in terms of pacing, subject matter, and design.

This list collects the best Japanese anime TV series of all time. American series that have been influenced by anime, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, are not included. Forget a top 10 anime list- ours has over 200 entries!

1

106,571 58,209

Death Note The fictional universe that contains the anime, manga and television films that deal with the world of Death Note.

2

101,383 45,087

Star Takeda added Attack on Titan Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do ...more

3

91,976 33,205

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an anime adaptation of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga by Hiromu Arakawa. Developed by Bones, the series is directed by Yasuhiro Irie and written by Hiroshi ...more

4

95,804 38,130

Star Takeda added Naruto Shippuden Naruto Shippuuden is the continuation of the original animated TV series Naruto.The story revolves around an older and slightly more matured Uzumaki Naruto and his quest to save his friend ...more

5

76,705 36,971

Naruto Naruto is a 2002 TV program written by Masashi Kishimoto and directed by Hayato Date.

6

75,715 37,593

Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Dragon Ball Z is the sequel to the Dragon Ball anime and adapts the last 325 chapters of the original 519-chapter ...more

7

68,146 33,158

Star Takeda added Fairy Tail Fairy Tail is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It has been published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine since August 2, 2006, and has been published by Kodansha in 48 ...more

8

56,867 38,168

Lepticidio added Sword Art Online Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the near-future and focuses on various virtual reality MMORPG ...more

9

52,143 30,676

Star Takeda added Bleach Bleach is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of the hotheaded teenager Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper —a ...more

10

63,509 24,389

11

48,555 23,181

Code Geass Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, often referred to as simply Code Geass, is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with ...more

12

48,256 17,564

Star Takeda added Hunter x Hunter Hunter × Hunter is a 1999 television series and is part of the Hunter × Hunter media franchise. The story focuses on a young boy named Gon Freecss, who one day discovers that the ...more

13

57,233 16,095

14

43,048 19,573

Fullmetal Alchemist Fullmetal Alchemist is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It was serialized in Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine between August 2001 and June 2010; the ...more

15

35,839 18,307

Cowboy Bebop Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese anime series developed by Sunrise featuring a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro ...more

16

34,228 14,821

Blue Exorcist Blue Exorcist is a manga written and illustrated by Kazue Katō. The manga has been serialized in Jump Square magazine by Shueisha since April 2009, with individual chapters collected into ...more

17

27,511 13,888

ValedPuud added Steins;Gate Steins;Gate is a 2011 anime series created by the animation studio White Fox, based on 5pb. and Nitroplus's video game of the same name. It is set in 2010, and follows Rintaro Okabe, who ...more

18

28,979 13,073

19

29,077 14,971

Soul Eater Soul Eater is a manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Ōkubo. Set at the "Death Weapon Meister Academy", the series revolves around three teams, each consisting of a weapon ...more

20

34,094 9,224

The Seven Deadly Sins Among the ten short classics with a damn dose of action The Seven Deadly Sins (Netflix, 2014) is a Japanese animated series based on the manga by Nakaba Suzuki. A once-active group of knights called the Seven Deadly Sins must band together to defeat ...more

Pokémon Pokémon, abbreviated from the Japanese title of Pocket Monsters, is a long running Japanese children's anime television series, which has been adapted for the international television ...more

23

24,392 13,413

InuYasha Inuyasha, also known as Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and ...more

24

23,244 7,539

25

25,948 12,739

Dragon Ball Dragon Ball is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is an adaptation of the first 194 chapters of the manga of the same name created by Akira Toriyama, which were ...more

26

25,469 10,505

27

21,223 11,392

Samurai Champloo Samurai Champloo is a Japanese anime series developed by Manglobe. It featured a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, character designer Kazuto Nakazawa and mechanical designer ...more

28

15,904 10,461

29

21,364 5,540

30

15,800 8,840

31

16,696 9,895

Rurouni Kenshin Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, also known as Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The story begins during the ...more

32

17,208 8,153

SensitivePsych0 added Psycho-Pass Psycho-Pass is a Japanese anime television series that was produced by Production I.G, directed by Naoyoshi Shiotani and written by Gen Urobuchi. The series was aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina ...more

33

16,403 8,046

Fate/Zero Fate/Zero is a light novel by Gen Urobuchi, illustrated by Takashi Takeuchi, and is a prequel to Type-Moon's visual novel, Fate/stay night. The first volume was released on December 29, 2006, ...more

34

28,672 17,642

35

16,395 9,878

36

14,281 6,159

Magi Among the ten short classics, with fifty episodes and the best morals there is to offer in its genre, unlike Naruto Shippuden Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic is a 2012 TV anime series written by Hiroyuki Yoshino and directed by Koji Masunari.

37

15,269 7,660

Star Takeda added Angel Beats! Angel Beats! is a 13-episode Japanese anime television series produced by P.A.Works and Aniplex and directed by Seiji Kishi. The story was originally conceived by Jun Maeda, who also wrote the ...more

38

18,226 7,959

Future Diary Future Diary is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sakae Esuno. It depicts a battle royale in which each combatant has a diary with entries from the future. The manga was ...more

39

16,052 9,532

kiaoncelucas added High School of the Dead Highschool of the Dead is a Japanese manga series written by Daisuke Satō and illustrated by Shōji Satō. The story follows a group of high school students caught in the middle of a zombie ...more

40

19,300 8,010

Tatsuki34 added Black ButlerJ. Michael Tatum, Brina Palencia, Black Butler is a manga written and illustrated by Yana Toboso. Since its debut on September 16, 2006, it has been serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly GFantasy. The series ...more

41

16,806 7,349

42

12,559 7,862

Neon Genesis Evangelion Neon Genesis Evangelion, commonly referred to as Evangelion or Eva, is a Japanese animated television series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and Gainax and directed by Hideaki Anno. It was ...more

43

11,916 6,490

Gurren Lagann Gurren Lagann, known in Japan as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on ...more

44

13,462 6,774

Berserk Berserk is a 1997 anime series adaptation of the dark fantasy manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura.

45

13,805 4,796

PhillipAdams added The Devil is a Part-timer The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is a Japanese light novel series written by Satoshi Wagahara, with illustrations by Oniku. ASCII Media Works has published ten volumes since February 2011. The story ...more

46

19,688 6,761

Fairy Tale Fairy Tale is a Canadian LGBT dating television series. Hosted by Nelson Tomé and produced by Canadian media company Hiltz Squared Media Group, the program premiered on PrideVision in ...more

47

13,351 6,774

48

15,340 7,595

penmetsa-rahul added High School DxD High School DxD is an anime television series.

49

11,033 1,029

My Hero Academia My Hero Academia is a 2016 anime series based on the superhero manga series Boku no Hīrō Akademia, written by Kōhei Horikoshi. Izuku Midoriya is a regular middle school student in a world where ...more